Albi sits in Navy Yard under chef and owner Michael Rafidi, whose cooking traces back to his family's roots in Ramallah, Palestine, and the home cooking of his grandparents. Before opening Albi, Rafidi spent six years as executive chef of RN74 in San Francisco under Michael Mina.
The kitchen is built around a wood-burning hearth that nearly every dish passes through at some stage, with techniques rooted in live fire, fermentation, and spice applied to peak-season Mid-Atlantic ingredients like Maryland crab, sweet corn, Chesapeake rockfish, and local produce. The Sofra experience is a five-course, spontaneous tour through Palestinian cooking, structured as a dialogue between kitchen and guest rather than a fixed menu. Wine director William Simons built the list around Palestinian, Lebanese, and Eastern Mediterranean producers.
Michelin has awarded Albi one star in each guide from 2022 through 2025, and Chef Rafidi won the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Chef award in 2024 after a Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic finalist nod in 2023. The restaurant has also been named to North America's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2025 and 2026 and included on The New York Times' Restaurant List in 2026.
The kitchen is built around a wood-burning hearth that nearly every dish passes through at some stage, with techniques rooted in live fire, fermentation, and spice applied to peak-season Mid-Atlantic ingredients like Maryland crab, sweet corn, Chesapeake rockfish, and local produce. The Sofra experience is a five-course, spontaneous tour through Palestinian cooking, structured as a dialogue between kitchen and guest rather than a fixed menu. Wine director William Simons built the list around Palestinian, Lebanese, and Eastern Mediterranean producers.
Michelin has awarded Albi one star in each guide from 2022 through 2025, and Chef Rafidi won the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Chef award in 2024 after a Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic finalist nod in 2023. The restaurant has also been named to North America's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2025 and 2026 and included on The New York Times' Restaurant List in 2026.